It's easy to forget that our Latin-derived alphabet came from earlier alphabets that used physical objects to represent their letters. Cartoonist Jason Novak reminds us of the Egyptian, Phoenician, and Sumerian origins of our modern alphabet, with the letters incorporated into sketchy, energetic cartoons.

You can see the the full alphabet over at The Rumpus, and you can preview a few of the letters below. It's already sending me on a flight of alphabetical research into the objects and features that inspired each of these shapes.